This invention relates to protective headgear. In particular, the present invention is military aviator headgear comprising a helmet, a visor and a mechanism for mounting the visor to the helmet to allow controlled actuation of the visor between deployed and stowed positions.
The use of various types of protective gear for military aviators (i.e., both aircraft pilots and crew members) is well known. In particular, protective gear for the head and eyes has been used since the first open cockpit aircraft went into production. This early form of head and eyes protection took the form of a helmet and goggles. Today, military aviators, and specifically pilots, in both rotary and fixed wing aircraft, are required to wear prescribed protective headgear.
This headgear typically takes the form of a helmet having a hard outer shell formed of a synthetic composite material, such as fiberglass and an inner close fitting foamed polymer lining. The hard outer shell withstands shock loads, that may result, for example, from aircraft ejection, while the resiliency of the foamed lining evenly dissipates the forces of the shock load over a wider area. This interaction between the outer shell and liner helps to protect the helmet wearer against head injury, such as a concussion. A visor (i.e., face shield) is typically attached to the helmet so as to cover at least a portion of a helmet front opening that permits forward viewing by the wearer. The visor protects the face and eyes of the wearer and the visor is typically tinted to shield the wearer's eyes from glare or sunlight. A mounting mechanism attaches the visor to the helmet to permit raising and lowering of the visor between in use (i.e., deployed) and stowed positions.
Protective headgear comprising a helmet, and a visor which is mounted via a mechanism to permit visor movement between stowed and use positions are generally known. For example U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,127 issued to Rittman et al., U.S. Patent to Hanson and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,397,047; 4,297,747; and 4,247,960 all issued to Nava, disclose devices for controlled lifting of visors for motorcycle helmets. However, these devices are not particularly suited for headgear to be used by military aviators because of the extremely limited range of movement of the visor between stowed and use positions. Typically, the range of motion permitted by motorcycle visor lifting devices is limited to such an extent that the visor, in the stowed position, does not clear the helmet front opening and therefore restricts the forward viewing of the helmet wearer. This arrangement is unacceptable in the military aviator environment since any obstruction within an aviator's line of sight, such as occasioned by a temporarily unneeded and stowed visor that is interfering with the aviator's forward view, may adversely affect the aviator's control of the aircraft or the aviator's ability to identify perilous circumstances.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,910,269 to Ansite et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,187,502 to Howell and U.S. Pat. No. 5,604,930 to Petit et al. all disclose protective headgear designed for aviators. Though, the protective headgear of each of these patents incorporates a visor movably mounted to a helmet, the operation of moving the visor between in use and stowed positions presents disadvantages. For example, to move the visor between use and stowed positions, the mounting mechanism for the visor of Howell requires that a screw knob be first loosened, the visor is then moved and then the screw knob is retightened to hold the visor in its new position. Clearly this operation to move the visor of Howell is cumbersome, and may affect an aviator's ability to control an aircraft and move the visor under stressful circumstances. For visor movement, the mounting mechanism of Ansite et al. requires that an aviator perform complicated compound translational and rotational movement of the visor to move the visor between use and stowed positions. As with Howell, the operation of moving the visor of Ansite et al. is complicated and may be even dangerous in a high stress situation. Like Ansite et al., the mounting mechanism of Petit et al. also requires that the visor perform compound translational and rotational motion as the visor moves between use and stowed positions. However, unlike Ansite et al., the mounting mechanism of Petit et al. permits claimed one handed operation to achieve this visor movement. But, to achieve this single handed visor operation, the mounting mechanism of Petit et al. requires the aviator to grope for a handle on either side of the helmet to move the visor between use and stowed positions. As with Ansite et al. and Howell this could be difficult and dangerous in high stress situations.
There is a need for improved protective headgear for aviators. In particular, there is a need for headgear having an articulated mounting mechanism for a visor that allows an aviator to quickly and easily move the visor between deployed and stowed positions even in high stress aeronautical situations. In addition, the visor in its stowed position should not obstruct the aviator's line of sight or otherwise interfere with the aviator's forward view through the helmet's front opening. Lastly, the components of the headgear should be relatively easy and inexpensive to manufacture.